How to manage and respond to difficult customers from your online store?

We all know the saying: “The customer is king.” With the proliferation of online customer review sites and social networks, even an unfounded negative comment from a customer can impact your turnover, and online customers understand this.

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In 2020, some royal customers turned into dictators.

As merchants, artisans, entrepreneurs, or employees in customer service or sales, you have all faced a difficult customer, and it is sometimes challenging to respond to their requests or messages that can affect morale.

These months of confinement have seen online sales explode as never before, and with that, customer complaints. Sometimes due to delivery delays (an organization not prepared for this large number of orders or overwhelmed shipping suppliers) or sometimes due to slower than usual customer service responses (bursts of questions about your business), these changes do not please demanding consumers, and you may feel helpless in an exceptional situation.

That’s why today, we would like to present our advice and solutions to deal with these customers, either:

• Turn this difficult customer into a understanding and pleasant one
• End your collaboration with the customer professionally and without moral impact

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At what point can a customer be defined as difficult?

Everyone has their own sensitivity to messages, but objectively, a difficult customer is one who uses disrespectful language and an aggressive tone.

In any case, when such a situation occurs, it is important to prioritize phone or direct communication. Email exchanges can lead to confusion in some cases.

Moreover, in a direct exchange, we can detect intonations and engage in real-time discussions (without creating additional waiting and therefore additional frustration for the customer).

The 5 types of difficult customers

1. The Aggressive, Unpleasant

They are often controlling individuals.

2. The Grumblers, Grumpy

Customers who complain continuously. It seems like they enjoy complaining.

3. The Pessimists, Skeptics, Negative

These customers see the glass half empty. Their negativity is contagious! Behind this negativity, however, is a real ability to get involved.

4. Mr. or Mrs. “I Know It All”

We all have someone in mind! It’s the person who has the answer to everything, who claims to know everything, even if that’s not the case!

5. The Indecisive, Hesitant

The indecisive waste our time. They don’t make decisions, ask questions, but don’t seem entirely interested, just enough to keep us busy!

Understanding each type of customer

To act well and adapt to our customers, it is essential to understand them. Being an entrepreneur and dealing with customer service requires a LOT of psychology. The better you master this aspect, the more cordial and relevant the exchanges will be.

It is therefore important to initially understand your interlocutor according to one of these types and act accordingly.

Also, in conversation, it is common for the real need or message not to be stated. In this case, it is interesting to actively listen and name it to validate your feeling and demonstrate your listening. This can be done in different ways depending on the type of interlocutor.

How to react to each type of difficult customer

1. The solution for an “Aggressive” customer

• Give them time to calm down
• Express your point of view firmly
• Be ready to be friendly
• Show them that you take them seriously

2. The solution for a “Grumbler” customer

• Listen attentively
• Rephrase
• Avoid the Accusation-Defense type of dispute
• Do not show agreement with their statements if you are not
• If none of your solutions work, throw the ball back by asking, “How do you want to end this discussion?” or “What solution do you propose to resolve this situation?”.

3. The solution for a “Pessimist” customer

• Make positive observations about similar resolved cases
• Every situation has 2 sides, try to put things into perspective
• Do not try to discuss their negativity

4. The solution for a “I Know It All” customer

There are different types of “I Know It All” people.
Analytical, narcissistic, unconscious, etc. In this perspective, you need to adapt your speech:

• Make sure you are well-prepared: Check your information (accurate and sourced) to avoid appearing hesitant
• To express your disagreement, go gently but clearly
• Provide a way for them to save face
• Be ready to fill a gap in the conversation

5. The solution for an “Indecisive” customer

• Make it easy for them to talk about the main topic
• When you have successfully identified the problem, help them solve it by making a decision.

Is the customer always right?

No, the customer is not always right… In fact, it is impossible to answer this statement in one sentence.

We need customers to keep our business running. However, we do not need all customers.
We need customers who appreciate our product or service, speak well of us, are proud to be customers, and feel they are paying the right value for the product/service received.

“Working with Difficult People” by Roy Lilley (whose section on the 5 types of customers is inspired) and “The Garbage Truck Rule” by David J. Pollay are interesting reads.